Only 26 days left...then I move from lower Northeast Philly, to the safer closeby suburbs in lower Bucks County.

The main reason I'm moving, is because of my infatuation with cars. Car insurance is sky-high in Philly...ranked the #1 most expensive county in the country!! Hah, try insuring a new sportscar with 300hp, when you're under 25, financing, have an accident and a few speeding tickets on your record, and live in a declining neighborhood nearby one of the most accident-stricken highways in the state. Basically I'm paying high prices, for the "benefit"(sarcasm) of less safety and security. I save over $1,000/yr in insurance ifI move outside city limits...that beats the savings Geico advertises! I don't like the crime stories/statistics I've been reading on this site about Oxford Circle area, esp concerning car vandalism. Hells, I too was a victim of car vandalism...last summer, some a$$hole teenager was throwing rocks at cars, and broke the window of my '89 Jetta when I was driving down Roosevelt. He got arrested but I STILL haven't been reimbursed, thankfully it was only the Jetta that got hit, and not one of my nicer cars. Also, the parking is less than ideal. My 3-story apartment building has a tiny little parking lot behind it that holds no more than 6 vehicles, meaning sometimes I have to park on the street and risk getting parking tickets the next morning. Not to mention I will soon have to find spots for 2 more vehicles.

Recently, there was a car fire...right behind where my new car was parked!! Thankfully I am a night owl, and was actually awake at 2:00am when this happened. If I'd been sleeping, I woulda never heard the knocking on my door, which was the neighbors, who were very kind to tell me about this fire before it spread to my car(I owe my neighbors lots for helping me!!). Luckily I ran outta my building like a bolt of lightning, and despite someone outside yelling to "stay away from the car," I jumped in my car and drove it up the street, far outta sight of the raging flames only a few feet behind where id' been parked. This makes me really nervous leaving my car in my own neighborhood. I better not find out that the car fire was arson...or I will be never let my car see Northeast Philly again! I don't care if I have to sleep over a friend's house for the next 26 days LOL!

where do you live now? what are the locations?

Hmm...I won't be too specific, but I live in the general Oxford Circle area, nearby Roosevelt Blvd. It's an area on the decline that's been in the news lately more often than I'd like. However, I am moving to lower Bucks County, in an area literally minutes from the Northeast. So I will be able to use the same gym, shopping center, etc as I do now, and still be close to the city, but without the hassle of high car insurance, city wage tax, and lack of car safety.

I am glad to hear you are happy, but you left out all of the good details, where are you going and what kind of car you are driving! 300 horsies is pretty nice...

__________________
SIXERSFAN

You're right, the city is not for you if your cars mean the world to you.

Sorry, I don't know all you guys on this message board to reveal too much information. ;-) For security purposes the make of the vehicle isn't as important as the idea that the neighborhood isn't ideal for parking it.

And yeah my car means a lot, because it is the first car I've financed, and I've been very conscientious with the payments. I'm trying to pay off the car so that I will have enough credit to then qualify for a mortgage.

Souinds like a Stang to me. Sheet, minivans and RAV4s are closing in on 300 hp nowadays ;-)

I insured a 405hp sports car for $1900 /yr with a center city addy. For some reason, I get AWESOME quotes from State Farm. Good luck with your move, Oxford Circle has unfortunately took a turn in the wrong direction

Malloy, that's lucky of you to be able to insure a car that fast for only $1900/yr. I'm paying over 3.5X more than you. It's at the point, to where my monthly insurance payments are higher than my car payments, that's pathetic. My rates will definitely go down in a year and a half when I turn 25, and also because I'll have the car paid off by then, and it'll have been 3yrs since any tickets or accidents by then, but that doesn't help me now.

Anything you save on car insurance will be MORE than eaten up with property taxes. LOL! Been there, done that, as my hubby would say.

But I don't have to pay property taxes; I'm only renting.

I guess you're referring to the taxes I will have to pay when I eventually buy a house in a year and a half? By that point, my car insurance will be lower anyway because I'll be 25, be done with my car payments, and the accidents/tickets will be over 3yrs old so they will have less effect on my insurance. And I'd rather pay the same amount of money for a more expensive(but overall nicer and safer) place to live and low car insurance(due to less risk to vehicle); as opposed to a cheaper(but lesser quality) place to live and high car insurance(due to more risks to vehicle). For example, even my friend described my current apartment(nearby Oxford Circle) as "horrific." I will post more about my apartment and the negligent "slum-lording" situation later. I'm not against buying a house in Philly, however I am against buying a house in my current Oxford Circle-ish neighborhood because I don't like the things that have been happening in that area lately.